Page 33 of Bride of the Bratva King (Blood & Bride #1)
"Roman, let me explain something to you. Those children are the most important thing in my world. More important than money, territory, or my own life. If you harm them, I will spend the rest of my existence making you regret every second you continue to breathe."
"Big words from a man who's standing outside while I'm in here with your family."
"Small thinking from a man who doesn't realize he's already dead."
The NICU doors open, and Alexei enters alone, his hands empty but his presence filling the room like a storm front. He looks at me first, checking for injuries, then at the incubators where our children sleep peacefully despite the drama surrounding them.
"Roman," he says without looking at the other man. "You have exactly ten seconds to put down your weapon and surrender."
"Or what?"
"Or I demonstrate why threatening my family was the last mistake you'll ever make."
"I still have the gun, Alexei. I still have your wife and children at my mercy."
"No, Roman. You have my wife, who just spent three days recovering from surgery to save our premature children. You have two babies who were born during a siege and survived their first week in intensive care. Do you really think any of them are afraid of one desperate man with a gun?"
"Desperate? I'm the real Roman Volkov. I'm the power you never knew existed."
"You're a coward who let his cousin die in his place and hid in the shadows for months. That's not power, Roman. That's pathetic."
Roman's face flushes with anger. "Pavel understood sacrifice. He understood that some things are bigger than individual lives."
"Pavel understood that you were too weak to face your enemies yourself."
"Weak? I rebuilt our entire organization while you celebrated a false victory. I have more resources, more connections, more power than Pavel ever possessed."
"And yet here you are, alone, threatening babies instead of facing me like a man."
"I'm here because this is where it hurts you most. Your legacy, your future, everything you've built—it all dies with these children."
Roman looks at me, and I can see him suddenly understanding that I'm not a helpless victim. I'm a woman who killed his cousin to protect her family. I'm a mother who would die before letting anyone hurt her children.
"Mrs. Morozov," Roman says slowly, "step away from the incubators. Last warning."
"No."
"I will shoot you."
"Maybe. But Alexei will kill you before my body hits the floor, and you'll still be just as dead."
"At least I'll take you with me."
"Will you? Because Roman, there's one more thing you should know."
"What?"
"The night nurse called security fifteen minutes ago when you first appeared. This entire conversation has been broadcast live to the hospital command center, the police, and the FBI."
His face goes white. "That's impossible."
"Is it? How do you think pediatric security works? Do you think hospitals just let armed men wander into rooms full of vulnerable babies without consequences?"
"You're bluffing."
"Am I? Alexei, tell him about the federal task force that's been investigating the Volkov family."
"Agent Castillo has been very interested in the real Roman Volkov," Alexei confirms. "Seems there are outstanding warrants for human trafficking, murder, and domestic terrorism. The FBI has been looking for the true power behind the Volkov organization."
"Roman Volkov," a new voice announces from the hallway. "This is Agent Mariana Castillo, FBI. You're surrounded and have no escape routes. Put down your weapon and surrender peacefully."
Roman's face crumbles as he realizes the scope of the trap he's walked into. Not just Alexei's security team, but federal agents who've been hunting the real him for months.
"You set me up," he says to me.
"I protected my children. Everything else was just tactics."
"Roman," Agent Castillo's voice comes through a megaphone. "You have thirty seconds to surrender before we use force."
"I can still kill them," Roman says desperately. "I can still destroy Alexei's legacy."
"You can try," I say calmly. "But Roman? You're not just threatening two premature babies. You're threatening the children of every Bratva family in the city. You're threatening the next generation of an organization that has very long memories and very creative ideas about revenge."
"What are you saying?"
"I'm saying that even if you somehow escape federal custody, even if you evade Alexei's justice, there are a dozen other families who will hunt you down for threatening Bratva children."
"You're bluffing again."
"Dmitri," Alexei calls out, "how many family representatives are currently in the hospital?"
"Seven families, sir. All with children or grandchildren in various units. All very concerned about hospital security."
Roman's weapon starts shaking in his hands as the full reality hits him. He's not just facing Alexei or the FBI. He's declared war on an entire criminal community that protects its children above everything else.
"Last chance, Roman," Agent Castillo announces. "Surrender now or face the consequences."
Roman looks at me, at the incubators where Viktor and Katya sleep peacefully, at Alexei standing between him and any hope of escape.
"This isn't over," he says finally.
"Yes, it is," Alexei tells him. "It's been over since the moment you threatened my children. Pavel's death was business. This is personal."
He drops his weapon.
The next few minutes are chaos as federal agents flood the NICU, taking Roman into custody while medical staff check on all the babies to ensure no one was harmed by the confrontation.
"Are you okay?" Alexei asks, pulling me into his arms once the immediate danger is over.
"I'm okay. The babies are okay."
"You shouldn't have been alone."
"I'm never really alone. Not when I'm protecting our children."
"You were incredible. Brave, smart, absolutely fearless."
"I was terrified. But I was also angry. Nobody threatens Viktor and Katya. Nobody."
"So Pavel was really Roman's double all this time?"
"Everything we thought we knew about their organization was wrong. The real power was hidden, the real threat was waiting."
"But not anymore."
"Not anymore."
We stand together beside our children's incubators, watching Viktor and Katya sleep through the drama that could have ended their lives before they really began.
"It's over now," Alexei says. "Roman is in federal custody, his organization is eliminated, and our children are safe."
"Really over this time?"
"Really over. The real Roman Volkov is finished."
"And the future?"
"The future is watching our children grow up without enemies, without threats, without any shadows from the past."
"Promise?"
"Promise."
Viktor chooses that moment to wake up, his tiny eyes opening to look directly at his parents. Katya follows a moment later, both children somehow sensing that the danger has passed and they're safe.
"Hello, little ones," I whisper to them. "Mama and Papa are here, and everything is okay."
Everything is more than okay.
Everything is perfect.